Quire of Voyces Presents Sudney Sussex College Choir from Cambridge

http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/062609quire_of_voyces/

By Rochelle Yoshida-Hahn

Concert features Howells' Requiem

The Santa Barbara Quire of Voyces presents a special joint concert of choral music with the The Choir of Sidney Sussex College from Cambridge University. The concert is scheduled for July 8 at 7:00 p.m. at First United Methodist Church located at 305 E. Anapamu St. Tickets are only available at the door and cost $10.

The performance will feature Herbert Howells’ immortal Requiem Mass, which was composed in memory of the sudden death of his son. According to Temmo Korisheli’s program notes, Howells guides us through an atlas of mourning, through music tender and poignant to innocent and folksong-like, from opulent and rhapsodic to luminous and atmospheric, until we finally come to a place where, in Howell’s words, “personal grief, itself spent, is merged and lost in the general pervasive light and warmth of consolation.”

Other choral works will include Tallis, Byrd, Tomkins, Vaughan Williams and Holst.

Since Dr. David Skinner was appointed as the Osborn Director of Music, the Chapel Choir is rapidly becoming one of the finest mixed-voice ensembles in Cambridge. The Choir is made up of six to eight sopranos, six altos, six tenors, three baritones and three basses. The Choir regularly performs at home and abroad and, more recently, has made a niche in making professional recordings for specialist markets, including museums, art galleries and national libraries. In 2006 and 2007, two commercial recordings (one with the renowned viol consort Fretwork) were completed as well as concerts and Evensongs at Therfield, Ely, and Peterborough and a tour of the Italian Riviera.

In 2006, Skinner was appointed as the first Director of Music at Sidney since the foundation of the College in 1596. He is known primarily for his combined role as a researcher and performer of early music, and is a co-founder of the award-winning ensemble The Cardinall’s Musick, with whom he produced more than 25 recordings during his time as co-artistic director (1989-2004). As a record producer he has been involved with a number of award-winning projects, including two Gramophone Awards and three runners up, Diapason d’Or, Deutche Schallplatten, and a Grammy nomination). He has also served as academic advisor and music editor for a number of professional vocal ensembles, including the Hilliard Ensemble, Tallis Scholars, The King’s Singers, The Sixteen, and several of the collegiate choirs in Oxford and Cambridge.

— Rochelle Yoshida-Hahn represents the Santa Barbara Quire of Voyces.

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